Archives: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Articles and Op-Eds

In a video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday purportedly by the terrorist group ISIS, various scenes of jihadist propaganda flash across the screen: militants reading verses from the Quran and examining a map of northern Syria, clips of violent clashes and explosions.

ISIS demanded 100 million euros ($132.5 million) in ransom for the release of James Foley, the American journalist kidnapped and killed by the terrorist group in Syria, according to a spokesman for GlobalPost, the news website for which Foley freelanced.

Military transformations can be hard to detect. They generally occur over decades, sometimes over generations. Soldiers are usually the first to recognize them, but for the perceptive, the signs of a sea change developing on today’s battlefields are there. Look carefully at media images of ground fighting across the Middle East, and you will notice that the bad guys are fighting differently than they have in the past.

For the first time in nearly six months, U.S. drone strikes hit Pakistan's tribal region three times in less than a week, killing at least 20 militants with suspected ties to the Haqqani network. The hiatus was the longest pause in the controversial CIA program since 2006, and the drones' sudden return begs the questions: Why now? And is this the beginning of a renewed drone campaign in Pakistan?